This boss, which is available in the Borderlands 2 DLCSir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt is tough. Why? Because of its shields. You can get him to around 50% health until he gets his shield protection.

He is very hard to solo in this epic game battle. And though his difficulty scales up when you duo or are in a part of 3 or 4, it's still much easier that way. Of course, he is even harder in Playthrough 2 or Playthrough 2.5 / Playthrough 3 than Playthrough 1. But that goes without saying. Most people will face him in a later Playthrough naturally.

So if you need a guide or some tips on killing this boss and its minions, then guess what? You came to the right place for gaming help! (maybe...possibly...I make no promises!). Read more »

UPDATE: THERE IS NOW A PROGRAM AVAILABLE TO ALLOW FOR INSTANT SUMMON SIZE! CHECK OUT THIS LINK

In Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition, the whole multiplayer connection is different than in the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 (PS3) versions of the game. Specifically, it is p2p (peer-to-peer) with IP Pools cycling.

In other words, you sometimes have to wait a very long time until you see a summon sign dropped by your friend -- or if they want to see your summon sign. So if your friend's summon sign isn't showing up, that's why.

Literally, it is not unusual to have to wait 20 minutes or so. During that time, it is likely you will be invaded too, and killed since many players like to cheat.

This solution solves both problems -- it stops invasions and lets you see White Sign Soapstones or Red Sign Soapstones right away.

So to Stop Players from Invading You, follow the same steps as below.

Dark Souls: Fix Multiplayer Summoning

Basically, we will limit the IPs able to connect to you in the game -- immensely.

1) Download Tunngle and install it
2) Sign up for it and login, then using Tuungle join the "DARK SOULS: PREPARE TO DIE" room
3) Check your Tunngle connection settings for Port Forwarding and hit "test connection" to see if it is working. If it isn't working, then either your firewall OR your router is blocking the port, and you will need to open them through there.

Done! Now just open Dark Souls and you're good to go. Only the people in that room will be able to join your game (and there aren't very many) so it's like playing via LAN.

Invasions are possible still, but unlikely (feel free to join a DIFFERENT room to avoid invasions altogether). It's kind of like playing in offline mode that way. Works on Steam copies of the game too.

Note: If you don't want to do all that and are trying to join a friend for coop, then it helps if you try to use the "join room" option through Games for Windows Live (GFWL).

Perhaps one of the most annoying boss battles in Dark Souls is the boss battle against the Four Kings.

Why? Because...
-- You have to use a special ring to fight them: Covenant of Artorias ring (you will instantly die without it)
-- People you summon for help forget to equip the ring & die
-- The i4 Kings keep spawning if you don't kill them quick enough
-- The fight area is big and it can be hard to judge distance
-- The boss can steal Humanity
-- They smell bad

If you want to melee the boss and have low vitality / health (HP), then make sure to roll when he takes his swings to avoid being damaged.

HOWEVER, if you are lazy and have lots of life, then you don't even have to do that. Read more »

Doing a strength build in Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition? Then check out our list below of the hardest hitting / highest hitting damage weapons! This list takes into account the new weapons available in the game's Artorias of the Abyss DLC.

Note that you can make some of these into fire, lightning, divine, raw, occult, enchanted / magic, or chaos, but that hurts the scaling effects so don't use those embers on these weapons. I only recommend turning them into CRYSTAL (if you don't mind durability issues) and then the normal upgrade paths.

However, it also goes without saying that the best divine weapon for a strength build / str build (since you will need one during one part of the game and MAYBE a boss fight if you wish) is still the best strength weapon -- so what many people do is get 2 or more copies of their best / favorite weapon, and then make one version divine (To deal with regenerating skeletons).

I'm going to use acronyms for a lot of these weapons since gamers LOVE acronyms. Right? Right!

Top Strength Weapons Dark Souls

Demon's Great Axe - The DGA weapon has the MOST physical damage in the whole game after upgrading it to +15. It will have S scaling for strength and an attack rating of over 650 depending on how much strength you have. This weapon is very strong and very heavy. Note that the crystal form is the strongest, but obviously has durability issues.

Demon Great Machete - A good alternative to the DGA, the DGM hits for high damage as well, but lacks the S scaling. It also weighs a lot though.

Man-Serpent Greatsword - A very popular choice of weapon! MSG is upgradeable to +15 and easy to get pretty early on in the game. It has A scaling for strength (when upgraded), isn't too slow, and has a weight of 10. Read more »

In Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition (which includes Artorias of the Abyss), you will encounter many different shields. Some are great shields that cannot parry, but can ram people. Others are normal, light weight small shields that can parry. Some shields are also enchanted and/or boast special traits such as increased resistance towards poison / toxic / bleed, fire / flame (such as from dragons or pyromancy), magic / sorcery (such as from bosses or pvp / pve), lightning elemental, increased stamina regeneration (regen), HP / health regeneration, or have abilities that allow you to hurt enemies more so with a shield bash (such as a spiked shield or the pierce shield from Siegmeyer of Catarina).

Many people want a shield with HIGH stability and defense, even if it isn't a light shield or medium weight shield instead of a heavy shield / large shield. And that's fine for a strength build or hybrid build that uses dexterity / dex (quality build), faith, or intelligence. After all, even if you constantly are trying to dodge the enemy, you WILL eventually be hit, and that's what the shield is for -- dealing with the impact in combination with poise.

So what's the best shield in the Dark Souls game world? There are a handful that are the "best" which have either the highest resistance, best defence / defense, poise, etc. Read more »

What's the best armor & gear in the game? That's a debate for many -- and the answer is NOT easy. Sometimes, armor and shields are SITUATIONAL. This means what works great in one level won't necessarily be the best in a different level.

Note that you can easily obtain all of these armors regardless so feel free to experiment! Mix and match as you please.

Keep in mind that all sets listed in here should be upgraded as much as possible (when/if possible). Obviously some won't be upgradeable, such as the Havel Armor set. Also, this article is written in the beginning of 2013 -- so it's for the latest patch 1.07 AND applies to those with the Artorias of the Abyss DLC.

These work great for player vs player (PVP) (invaders) and player versus everyone (PVE). This includes against bosses and normal enemies too. Read more »